Metal Gear, Pro Evo drive strong Q3 results for Konami

Japanese publisher Konami has announced solid third quarter results, with revenues stable and operating income up significantly thanks to successful launches of new titles in the Metal Gear Solid and Pro Evolution Soccer franchises.

Financial figures for the three months ended December 31st show that the firm had revenues of 81.5 billion Yen (605 million Euro) during the quarter, of which some 40.5 billion Yen (301 million Euro) originated in the Computer and Video Game division.

That figure is down by around one per cent compared to last year's sales figure, but the drop in the videogames department is smaller than in some of the firm's other business areas, with revenues from games remaining largely stable.

Operating income, however, was up by over 20 per cent, rising to 16 billion Yen (119 million Euro) off the back of a number of strong videogame product launches and improved performance in the firm's sports club business.

Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater, which launched in the USA and Japan before Christmas, was singled out for specific praise in today's report, as was European release Pro Evolution Soccer 4, which sold over a million units on its release in October.

Konami also noted that US title Rumble Roses has been well received critically, while software for the launch of the new handheld game consoles in Japan has also been a success for the company.

For the full year, which ends on March 31st, Konami expects to report revenues of 275 billion Yen (2.04 billion Euro) with operating income of 28 billion Yen (208 million Euro) and net profit after tax of 11 billion Yen (81.7 million Euro).

The publisher has also today announced a firm release date for Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater in Europe, where the PS2 exclusive title will be published on March 4th - complete with a number of bonuses and extras which were not available in the US and Japanese versions of the game, although Konami has yet to comment on the exact nature of these features.